


Never Be The Same

by karasunova



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Hogwarts First Year, Platform 9 3/4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-20
Updated: 2019-03-20
Packaged: 2019-11-26 01:50:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18174251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karasunova/pseuds/karasunova
Summary: Hermione is a nervous wreck as she prepares for her first trip to Hogwarts. She can't shake off this feeling that something (or someone) will be different after today.





	Never Be The Same

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Hermione's Haven 2019 Bingo  
> Square Filled: Platform 9 and 3/4

Hermione had packed and unpacked her backpack about eight times. Rearranging the order of the books she was taking, adding or subtracting which books she actually wanted to take with her. Should she keep her journal in her backpack or in her trunk?

She returned her journal to her backpack. What if she needed to write while on the train? It’d be better to keep it on her. 

She zipped her backpack up and plopped down on her bed. She stuck her hand on her pocket and took out a shiny embossed ticket: Platform 9 ¾ Kings Cross Station, London to Hogsmeade Station, Scotland.  11 AM. 

Hermione glanced at her alarm clock. 9:15 AM. 

Her eyes trailed over to her bedside table lamp. A white wooden body with a pink lacy shade. She picked it out with her mother two years ago when they redecorated her bedroom. 

She toed at the rug beneath her feet. She was coming back for Christmas but she wouldn't be living in this room, this house, for roughly ten months out of the year. 

Away from her room. Her things. Her parents. Her neighborhood. Familiarity. 

She hopped off her bed and walked to her side window where she had set up a small reading nook, which was really only a wooden chair from her father's old desk and a blanket her grandmother gave her for her eighth birthday. 

But her tall bookshelf was set beside the window and her chair was situated in such a way where she could reach for a new book, while keeping her foot up on the window sill, and have a decent view of the side garden. 

She hoped she could find a place like this at her new school. 

“Ready, darling?” Her mum knocked on the open doorway. 

Hermione nodded. She slowly made her way to her bed and picked up her backpack. 

Her mum walked in and buckled her trunk shut. “You have everything?” 

Hermione nodded, biting her lower lip. 

“Even if you forget something I'm sure your father and I can figure out how to send it to you. Just because you're going off to school to learn magic doesn't mean you'll be completely separated from us. We'll keep in touch.” 

Her mother’s words barely registered. Hermione’s attention was on the room around her. Did she have everything she needed? Would it be easy for them to send her something?

“Darling?” Her mum’s hand caressed the side of her cheek. “It’s okay to be scared. Now, why don’t we go down and have a little snack with daddy before we go to the station.” 

Hermione nodded. She glanced one more time around her room. She couldn’t help feeling something was going to be different when she returned. 

* * *

Her ticket was in her front jacket pocket. She had double and tripled checked. Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.

Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. 

_ Platform Nine and Three-Quarters? _

Where could that possibly be? Whenever her grandparents came down from Edinburgh, their trains stopped on platforms ten or sometimes platform 12. She’d never seen a Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. 

Her father loaded her trunk onto a small trolley. “Alright, ladies. Let’s go search for this Platform.” He kissed her mum on the cheek before taking Hermione’s hand, leading them all into King’s Cross Station. 

Hermione took her ticket out of her pocket. “It might be near Platform Nine,” she told them. 

“Sharp thinking, Hermione,” her father said. “Let’s head over and see.” 

Her father pushed them past the crowds and bustle. Her eyes landed on every moving form, taking in the sights and sounds, and listening for any signs of the mysterious platform. 

They slowed to a stop at Platform Nine, looking about. 

There! Through a flicker of movement, Hermione watched as two teenagers ran through a wall, disappearing completely from sight. 

“Well, that’s a first,” her mum muttered. 

Hermione stared at her mum, wide-eyed. 

Her mum was smiling. “Shall we?” 

“But –”

Her father gripped one end of her trolley. “Together?” 

Her mum wrapped an arm around her shoulders and together they slowly crept toward the wall, and with a quick breath, Hermione ran toward the wall, her parents on either side. 

Just like that, running head first through a non-descriptive wall, Hermione’s life would never be the same. Gringotts. Diagon Alley. The trunk full of books. All of that was nothing compared to the sights and sounds of Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, the countless kids and teens, just like her, going off to boarding to school to learn how to weild  _ magic _ . 

There before her, a red steam engine: The Hogwarts Express. 

And she had a one-way ticket to her future. 

Hermione and her parents followed the mass of students and other families heading toward one of the cargo cars. They handed her trunk off to one of the train attendants. 

Now trunkless, Hermione stood off to the side with her parents. They too were looking all around in amazement. 

“Alright, darling.” Her mum pulled her into a tight hug. “Study hard. Have fun. Write to us when you can.” 

Hermione nodded against her chest. “I will.” 

“Love you, pumpkin.” Her father kissed her on the top of her head. “Write to us as often as you can and we’ll see you at Christmas.” 

They walked along the platform until they found a car with empty compartments. Her father held open the car door and helped Hermione step up. She stepped down the hallway and rushed into the first empty compartment she found. She dropped her backpack onto the bench and opened the compartment window. 

“Bye, mum. Bye, daddy. I’ll see you in a few weeks.” She hung her hand out the window. 

Her mum grabbed her hand and kissed it quickly. “Love you, darling.” 

They waved and waved and her parents gradually moved back as large crowds of children and adults strolled through the platform. 

By the time it was almost time to go, her parents were practically at the back of the platform. As the train readied to go, Hermione held her hand out the window and waved furiously. “Bye, mum! Bye, daddy!” 

She waved until Platform Nine and Three-Quarters had zoomed out of sight. 

**Author's Note:**

> I really enjoyed writing this one. Thanks for reading!


End file.
